There was some site that asked me why I supported Kerry and one of the questions was about the election and who was going to win. Here is what I wrote:
30% of the voting population will be voting with electronic voting machines. These voting machines are touch-screen systems that aren’t designed to leave a paper trail, such as a receipt you would get from an ATM machine. Diebold, ES&S are two companies that own 80% of the market share that distributes these machines. ES&S has a prototype that can give voter receipts, although none are in production nor will be produced until states decide to demand they be necessary.
Wally O'Dell, the chairman of the board and CEO of Diebold, has been a major contributor to the Republican Party for years with $1,000-per-head GOP fundraisers at his spacious mansion as a common occurrence. Being as a guest at President Bush's Texas ranch and being a deep-pocketed member of the Texas GOP heavyweight group "Pioneers and Rangers”, O’Dell has been a strong Republican who just so happens to be the man in charge of Diebold. Not to mince words, O'Dell bragged about his GOP commitment by pledging his commitment "to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President."
O'Dell sent out letters to central Ohio Republicans inviting them to a Sept. 26, 2004 Ohio Republican fundraiser at his mansion. Perhaps CNN might like to pay him a visit.
Not to be outdone, Diebold director Tim Timken is a GOP heavyweight and a deep-pocketed member of George W. Bush's campaign Pioneers loyalist and a major contributor to GOP candidates. The Timken family given over a million dollars since 1991, Timken's also has a bearing and steel company that has given the GOP nearly a half-million dollars.
Then there’s Bob Urosevich, CEO of Diebold Election Systems and the founder of the other major competitor, ES&S, owned by the McCarthy Group.
The voter machine software produced by his company, I-Mark, uses and relies on Microsoft Access databases, a code cracker’s best and very hackable friend. In simple tests, 80% of votes can be compromised via a computer cracker hacking a single line of code.
There is the ability to download the software and hack the code pretty easily. You can even download the voting software and see for yourself how easy it is to hack: http://www.equalccw.com/dieboldtestnotes.html